Disposing of tape cartridges

Current rules about the appropriate disposal of tape cartridges.

Under the current rules of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), regulation 40CFR261, the LTO Ultrium Tape Cartridge is classified as non-hazardous waste. As such, it might be disposed of in the same way as normal office trash. These regulations are amended from time to time, and you must review them at the time of disposal.

If your local, state, country (non-US), or regional regulations are more restrictive than EPA 40CFR261, you must review them before you dispose of a cartridge. Contact your account representative for information about the materials that are in the cartridge.

If a tape cartridge must be disposed of in a secure manner, you can erase the data on the cartridge with a high-energy ac degausser (use a minimum of 4000 oersted peak field over the entire space that the cartridge occupies). The tape must make two passes through the field at 90 degree orientation change for each pass to achieve complete erasure. Some commercial degaussers have two magnetic field regions offset 90 degrees from each other to accomplish complete erasure in one pass for higher throughput. Degaussing makes the cartridge unusable.

If you burn the cartridge and tape, ensure that the incineration complies with all applicable regulations.